The Home Front
by emikaa
Summary: Peter Parker has never left New York City, let alone the country, yet he decides to follow in the foot steps of his older brother- Steve- and enlists for the war at only 15-years-old. After an unlikely encounter, he is sent home, but much like his sibling, he does not escape unchanged. Peter Parker WW2 AU/ 1940s AU. Features Peter and Steve as brothers, and mentor!Tony.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hello friends! This is a fanfic idea I have been chewing on for a while now. I have been a bit skeptical to write it because, despite being a history major, I know surprisingly little about the military. I'm just gonna do what I gotta do for the sake of the plot, so ENJOY!_**

Peter wished he could live in this moment. His brother was temporarily home from the war for a reason Peter did not know, though he was glad to be able to spend even a few days with him. This brief visit happened to time up perfectly with the New York City Stark Expo, which the 15-year-old had only ever dreamed of attending, and his older brother saw that this dream came true. His brown stared in amazement at all the inventions surrounding him, both inspiring and challenging his own genius, occasionally glancing at brother, whose presence had him in awe as well.

It had been months since he had seen him, and that time hadn't exactly been easy for the remains of their family. Their mom had fallen sick, leaving May- their sister- to support them. She was gone constantly, working in the factories making, still, barely enough even with their brother's pay from his service. Steve's mere presence, though, had the power to make things feel at least slightly normal. His kind-hearted humor, and 'Good- Samaritan' nature fit into Peter's life with the same ease it always had.

Obviously, he was different- no one returns from war the same whether they're gone for a few months or a few years. The biggest change being his physique. Steve climbed the ranks quickly, which left Peter baffled, being that his sickly brother barely managed to get enlisted. The man before him now, though, was so obviously still his brother, yet so blatantly different. While war can make one stronger and faster, it cannot make one taller, in fact very few things can. Peter was determined to figure out what caused this phenomenon, being that his older sibling went from being four inches shorter than him, to four inches taller.

Despite it all, having Steve around was still a welcomed taste of life before the war. Before the rations, before the paranoia, before the propaganda. Before his mother's illness and his sister's absence. Before his uselessness.

Peter let these thoughts leave his brain so he could focus, instead, on Howard Stark's demonstration of a flying car prototype. A label read 'The Car of the Future' but the future, these days, was hard to think about.

"Hey Peter," Steve nudged his arm, "when this is over I have a surprise." He gave Peter a cheeky smirk. After the end of Howard's speech, Steve grabbed the younger's arm and yanked him through the crowd. They went past some doors that Peter was pretty sure were off limits, and ended up behind the stage, on which, they were just watching the demonstration.

"Hey, Howard!" Steve hollered while Peter flushed red, cringing at the fact that his brother just called one of the world's most famous men by his first name after sneaking backstage. What he wasn't expecting was the boisterous, "Captain! Good to see you!" That his brother received in response. The two men briefly hugged before Howard spotted Peter.

"Who's the tag along?" He questioned, almost skeptically.

"This is my brother, Peter." Peter didn't miss the look of warning that Howard shot Steve. "Relax Howard, Peter is a science geek himself- he's not going to break your toys. I thought I would introduce him to you- he's somewhat of a genius himself, I would say."

Howard turned to Peter and gave him a hand shake. "Normally when people introduce someone as 'a genius' I assume it's a dotting exaggeration at best, but I don't think your brother even has the ability to lie."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Peter says overeagerly, earning a chuckle from his brother.

"The nauseating manors must run in the family." Howard quips it more at Steve than Peter, but still leaves the kid feeling embarrassed. "Relax kid, I'm rich, not royalty. It was good to see you Steve. You'll have to reintroduce us when this chaos is over- the war not my expo- speaking of, I should get back to that. Try not to die on me." The man said with a charismatic wave as he walked away.

"How the heck, do you know Howard Stark? You're supposed to tell me these things!" Peter exclaimed to his older brother.

"There's a lot I don't tell you…" Steve mumbles, and immediately regrets when he sees his brother's analytical expression. "Howard isn't the only Stark I know," he blurts in an attempt to save himself from his previous utterance.

"Wait… WHAT?! Are you suggesting that you know Tony Stark, as in THE TONY STARK?" He assumes from the younger's excitement that he forgot about his previous cryptic statement. He turned to his little brother and offered him a fond chuckle. This kid was still, well, a kid, and Steve was determined to keep it that way.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hello, pals! I hope you all have enjoyed this so far! So, if you haven't noticed, this is a slight AU. Most of the major plot points are the same, for example Steve was still given the Super Soldier serum. A lot of the timing and details will change, though. Also, somethings have to change to incorporate characters, for example, Tony and Howard are brothers, and May and Peter are brother and sister. There will be a few other changes as well, but I don't want to spoil anything. Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope I do you guys well with this new chapter! Enjoy!_**

Steve had left sometime last night, Peter assumed, being that when he woke up his brother was nowhere to be found. To leave without say goodbye was unlike him, but Peter blamed it on fight they had last night…

 _"_ _I still can't believe you know the Starks." He had said as they walked home from the Expo._

 _"_ _Well… a lot can happen during a war."_

 _"_ _I mean, it seems to have done you good." Peter wasn't sure if he was referring to socially, or physically. Or maybe both._

 _"_ _Good isn't an adjective I'd throw around these days." Eager to change the subject, Steve turned the questioning around on his brother. "How's the home front holding up?"_

 _"_ _Fine, I guess. No thanks to me." Peter mumbled._

 _"_ _Come on, Peter. Where did self-pity ever get anyone." Peter scoffed._

 _"_ _It's not 'self-pity' it's the truth… Mom is sick, May is out working her but off to try to change that, you're out fighting a war, and I'm sitting at home doing nothing but waiting for school to start again."_

 _"_ _You're delivering papers… helping out with some income."_

 _"_ _Yeah, pocket change. Nothing that's making any difference. If I had my way, I'd be out there."_

 _"_ _Well thank God, you're too young."_

 _"_ _Please, like there's not German kids out there, and British kids out there, younger than I am fighting. You've probably come face to face with kids younger than me."_

 _"_ _That's desperation, Peter! Their homes are getting bombed!"_

 _"_ _We got bombed!"_

 _"_ _Yeah, on once instance. The only sign of war that you've seen is rations, imagine witnessing the London Blitz!_

 _"_ _So, going to war is only noble if you're either seventeen, or have some revenge complex?"_

 _"_ _There's nothing noble about lying to your nation!"_

 _"_ _Funny coming from you because last time I checked, asthma is a 'no no' in the military."_

 _"_ _That's not what we're talking about right now."_

 _"_ _Oh, not so fun when you're the one being chastised like a child!"_

 _"_ _I'm not treating you like a child!"_

 _"_ _You've always treated me like a child! You think I'm useless just like ever-"_

 _"_ _PETER!" Peter seldom heard his mild-mannered brother this angry. "Your job is to stay home, and go to school, and be a kid. Because yes! News flash, you are! You are a kid. And a smart one. So, you live for the future, the future that men like me are dying to protect, so that maybe the future we get can be one worth living in!"_

 _"_ _Well news flash for you! Mom is dying! And May is working her ass off, and you, despite being all cozy with one of the richest men in the world, have done nothing to help. And while May spends day after day in a factory, I- for one- am sick of doing nothing just because my age ends with the wrong digit. So, fine! I'll continue to 'do what I can' here, but when there's inevitably nothing left for me to do, I'll go somewhere where I can make a difference. And you can't stop me."_

 _"_ _Peter, so help me, if I find out you did anything stupid, I will tell them how old you are."  
"Do you know how much trouble I would get in?"_

 _"_ _Better than a battle field."_

 _"_ _You're not my father, stop trying to act like it!" Peter stomped away._

 _"_ _Lord knows you could use one." Steve shouted after him, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh once his brother was out of sight._

Peter wandered into the small kitchen of their apartment when May approached him. She handed him some bread and an apple for breakfast, which he gladly accepted.

"Steve left this morning." She informed him. "He said to tell you he said bye, said he didn't want to wake you. He thought you looked like you needed the sleep."

"That's a lie."

"Pardon?"

"We got in a fight last night. He didn't want to talk to me, so he left without saying anything." Peter choked back a bitter pain, while May just sighed.

"He also said to not let you do anything stupid. Peter, you better not be thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing. You can't do that to mom. She already lost dad, and now with Steve gone too- you just can't do that Peter, okay?"

"I'm not going to leave mom, May." She gave him a gentle squeeze of the shoulder, and departed.

 ** _Thanks for reading, please review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_We're just going to brush over training a bit because I want to get to the actual plot. Also, again, sorry for anything incorrect as far as my military knowledge… I'm keeping it fairly vague on purpose. I just, honestly, do not have the time or energy to do extensive research at the moment. But if you are a WW2 military buff and would like to offer your expertise to help me fine tune, by all means feel free to shoot me a DM!_**

 ** _Enjoy the 3_** ** _rd_** ** _chapter!_**

 _"_ _I'm not going to leave mom May."_

It was a promise- and it was a promise he had full intent of keeping. But it was also a promise he had made nearly three months ago, and a lot can change in three months. A month ago, there wasn't a grave with the name 'Mary Parker' inscribed on it.

It was two weeks after Steve left that her health declined, and the week after that that she passed. Week four was a meager funeral, one Steve could not make it back for. The next month was when Peter enlisted. His papers stated him as a 19-year-old named Parker Peterson (he wasn't very creative with the cover name).

The day he left, he waited until May had left for work. He then placed a jar of change- not much, but everything he made delivering papers (which she had insisted he save for himself)- on the table, along with a handwritten note.

 _May,_

 _I know you'll probably hate me for this, but I had to go. You were right, I couldn't have left mom… it would have destroyed her. But she's gone, and I can't be the thing holding you back from finally having a life. You shouldn't have to be worrying about taking care of your little brother. I left you all the money that I've made this summer. It's the least I could do after you gave so much for me._

 _I'll write you as often as I can, however often that may be. Good bye, for now._

 _Love,_

 _Peter_

 _P.S. Please don't tell Steve about this, I would rather not have him track me down._

Training had gone by fairly well. It wasn't easy, per say, but he didn't have too much of a struggle. He wasn't outstandingly skilled, but also was not the worst, and this was how he preferred it since, being three years under age, he didn't want to draw any attention to himself.

After his training, he was sent to some small town in France. They were sent in a boat, and while it was a long trip, it was not unpleasant. He got to acquaint himself with a few of the men in his unit. He could tell a few had their doubts concerning his age, but none of them pestered him about it- which he appreciated.

John Wilkins, 22-years-old, was the most lively by far. He made sure to show them all a picture of his girlfriend that he had smuggled in his underpants (which Peter was sure she would love to know). She was a girl named Anne, with long, light hair, and a pleasant look. He smiled, a genuine smile, whenever he spoke of her, which made Peter happy.

There was also a man in his later twenties, who insisted they just call him Jack. He had a personality that only a dad could have- which made sense when Peter learned he had a 3-year-old daughter named Claire (of whom, he did not keep of in his underpants), and a son on the way. Peter liked being around Jack, maybe because he never really knew his own dad. It was melancholy knowing what it may have been like if his life had played out just a little bit differently.

The other person he got to know pretty well was the youngest of the bunch (besides Peter himself). An 18-year-old named Alexander Smith. He told them about his plans to go to, after the war, go to school to become a teacher. He knew it was a _'woman's job'_ , but he wanted to follow in the foot-steps of his own mom. "And besides," he stated, "she always said that any person should be able to any job, and I think that too, so I plan to respect it." Peter decided that Alexander's mom and May would get along great.

When they arrived, he was placed in a battalion under an officer by the name of Captain Rodgers. As he stood in a line, at attention, with the other privates, he felt more nervous than he had since turning in his papers. He heard the loud steps of the officer approaching, and chanced a glance in the man's direction.

At the sight of the man, Peter froze- rigid in his place. Suddenly incredibly grateful that his helmet was too large on him, he directed his gaze forward, hoping he would go unnoticed. Luck, though, was apparently not on his side, as the commander officer stopped directly in front of him. He read off his name, as he stood at attention- gaze still directed downwards, hiding his face.

"Eye-contact, Private." The Captain stated, and Peter obliged, hoping that maybe (just maybe) the man's gaze would be held elsewhere. But as he shifted his head, he was met with the undeniably blue eyes of his older brother, as they widened in shock then narrowed with warning. Steve cycled through the rest of the names briskly, as Peter's heart beat heavily in his chest.

Still, it took seemingly forever for Steve to make it down the line, and when he did, it brought Peter no reassurance. Peter almost thought he got away… almost. But he knew better.

"Peter… _son_ come with me. The rest of you go back to camp." Luckily none of the other men gave him any strange looks. He would take comforts where he could find them, as he was sure he was about to get the lecture of his life.


End file.
